By Anduela Nika
Dancing on a tight rope is generally tricky business. First, because let’s face it, you can’t stand in one place for very long, and second, chances are you might fall, taking your partner with you for a crash landing. The ruling coalition between the Socialist Party and their junior ally, the Socialist Movement for Integration (SMI), seems to be having problems on their “pax de deux” and probably be poised to break the political duopoly.
No one can tell for sure when the first crack appeared in their relationship, but the statement by SMI leader Ilir Meta few weeks ago, made it all clear there are many. Yes, there is trouble in paradise.
With poise and steely determination, Meta said that he was ready to resign as Speaker of Parliament and that ministers in the coalition government from his SMI party could resign too, if no comprise was reached about the justice reform. The compromise was reached in the end. Meta didn’t leave, but the coalition against that backdrop still remains on shaky ground.
The Socialists have been sensitive to any possible flirtation between Meta and Lulzim Basha of the Democratic Party and a new coalition between them.
Given SMI and DP were previously in a coalition government, Lulzim Basha has plenty of wiggle room. It is no surprise that he has recently been reaching out to Meta.
For Majlinda Bregu, an opposition Democratic Party MP, this is unlikely to happen, as she considers it more of a fantasy of a sizzling hot summer days, short of political news. “As far as I am concerned, if there is going to be another term of Rama I will not be part of it. And if there is going to be a Meta government I will not be part of it,” Bregu clarified.
The internal tensions of the ruling coalition have not left many key figures of both parties indifferent. For Pandeli Majko, a former prime minister and MP of Socialist Party, it is clear that the coalition is undergoing a significant upheaval.
“In its relations with partners in the ruling coalition, the Socialist Party has the task of dictating the tone of governance, away from allusions, accusations, or intrigues, but with open and transparent discussions. The future of this governance is not a story of town hall meetings, but a serious discussion which will serve good governance and other reforms, including the electoral one,” Majko said in a recent interview with Voice of America, voicing his concern about the future of the coalition.
In this climate, all the three main actors, the SP, SMI, and DP are trying to pull the strings. On one side, the SMI is putting pressure on the coalition, which in case it breaks would bring the country into general elections and then probably set a new coalition with the opposition in case they manage to have the ruling majority.
On the other side the Democratic Party came up with the idea of a caretaker government this week to precede the next general election, almost putting a stamp on the end of the coalition between Rama and Meta.
“The executive’s corruption, crime and narcotics trafficking are putting at risk the electoral process. We will forbid at any cost the infringement of the next electoral process. I demand the cooperation of every political force. The Socialist Movement for Integration and the Socialist Party should not be urged by the fear of the free vote, but by the responsibility for free elections,” said Basha on Tuesday.
But surprisingly, there are also people on the SP, happy that the coalition might come to an end. Servet Pellumbi, a former deputy chairman of the Albanian Socialist Party considers the end of left wing coalition as a good omen for the SP party. “The leadership of the SMI, being under tremendous pressure, will eventually brake the coalition with the governing majority. The SP needs to fight on two fronts and to get ready to govern with smaller coalitions,” noted Pellumbi.
The current political situation is complex and tense, and Ilir Meta has been an undoubted star in all of this. In his calm manner and political acumen, he seems the one to be in control.
In the words of Gà¼nter Grass on his book The Tin Drum “there is no such thing as a part-time partisan. Real partisans are partisans always and as long as they live. They put fallen governments back in power and over-throw governments that have just been put in power with the help of partisans.”
Now let’s go back a bit in time. It was 3 September 2009 when the then chairman of the Democratic Party and also Prime Minister of the country, Sali Berisha signed with Ilir Meta, the SMI chairman, a political agreement to form a new government coalition, that they called the coalition of integration.
Four years later, the tables are being turned. Again. On the general election on 2013, Meta decided to part ways with Berisha. Just a couple of months before the elections, Meta declared that he would be joining forces with Edi Rama of SP on a new coalition, which helped Rama get into power.
But now as the honeymoon is over, politicians from both parties are wondering if again history will repeat itself and the coalition will brake, and Meta be looking at new or old partners, or it will just rhyme.
But the sure thing is that they will hardly manage to dance for long on the tight rope.
